My Mom & My Dad

Chapter 11: Ray Palmer

"They went to MIT at the same time and worked together at Star Labs for a while. She said she fell for him because of his looks, his charm, his brains, and his promises of them building an IT empire together."

Dad paused and shut his eyes. A crease began to form across his forehead. When he opened his eyes again, they were teary. He looked straight into Aunt Thea's eyes, like he was about to say something he deeply resented. "He took advantage of her, Thea. And by that, I don't mean just taking away her innocence, getting her pregnant, and then running away from his responsibility. You see, she was more brilliant than he was, or could ever be. He used her ideas to climb the corporate ladder while she was forced to the sidelines to watch him succeed all by himself. He robbed her of her dreams, her future, and her self-respect. In my book, that's unforgivable."

Aunt Thea didn't dare speak. She seemed amazed that her older brother was opening up to her, baring his heart in empathy for the woman he loved. She felt for him, and wondered how she could ease the pain he felt inside. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. Hard.

"Felicity is afraid of him," Dad continued. "She thinks he's going to stop at nothing to destroy me."

"You? Why is this about you?" Aunt Thea asked, puzzled.

"Palmer now knows about Felicity and me. She says he gets challenged by competition."

"Seems to me it's not really just about competition. Palmer's jealous... of you. Do you think he wants to get her back?"

"I don't think so. But whatever it is... it's going to be ugly. I just... I don't want him hurting Felicity ever again," Dad said in a firm voice, trying so hard to hold his anger in.

"Are you sure Palmer is really going to go out of his way just because he's challenged or jealous or something? I mean, what would he stand to gain? He's already filthy rich!"

"Well, for starters, Walter Steele tells me it's only been a day, but he's already managed to buy out the shares of Kirkland, Sheppard, and Grier. He's after QC, Thea."

"What?!! Ray Palmer is nuts!"

"Couldn't agree with you more, Speedy," Dad responded. "That's the reason why we cut short our Vegas trip. I needed to come back and meet with Walter to figure out how we can keep Palmer from buying out more shares and maneuvering his way into the Board. He's good. He's convincing investors... some even good friends of Dad... by offering to buy their shares at twice their market value."

"You and Walter can stop him, Ollie. I believe in you," Aunt Thea said, trying to keep my dad from being discouraged. She then told him that she had to go some place, and after a warm, reassuring hug, Dad let her go.

My dad spent the rest of the day at QC doing 'damage control,' as he called it. I had convinced him to take me along, saying that he owed me for leaving me at home the day before. First, he met with Walter Steele and a couple of other Board members who were loyal to us, Queens. Then after lunch he was on the phone for a couple of hours, convincing investors who had signed their shares over to Palmer to change their minds... to no avail. Unfortunately, those greedy businessmen didn't care about my family's company; all that mattered to them was the lure of green bucks. Dad spent the rest of the afternoon calling other investors and shareholders, convincing them not to commit the same mistake.

Just as my dad was ready to call it a day, someone unexpected walked into his office.

"Oh... hi," my dad said softly as he looked up to see who was knocking on the glass door. It was Felicity.

Emily was right behind her mother and had her arms around one of her mom's legs. "Hi, Emily! Wanna play games with me?" I offered. She nodded her head and let go of her mom. She came over and sat beside me on the carpeted floor inside my dad's office. I let her hold my tablet and choose which game she wanted to play.